Federal workers are stuck in some of the region’s worst buildings

The federal government may be one of the Washington region’s biggest landlords — but it doesn’t mean it’s one of the best.

The General Services Administration manages about 95.6 million rentable square feet in 190 federally owned buildings and 500 leased buildings in Greater Washington. But spoiler alert: It’s not all in great shape. And before you think it’s just that old FBI Building, think again. The problems go way beyond that one structure.

For fiscal 2018, GSA requested more than $1.44 billion in repairs and alterations to its buildings — topping $1 billion for apparently the first time. But it’s up to Congress and the president how much of that request gets granted. For fiscal 2017, GSA got $676 million out of its $841 million request for repairs. In Trump’s proposed 2018 budget, GSA would only get $180 million.

Most of the repairs needed in the region focus on basic building operations — HVAC, electrical and elevator systems. Sometimes, it’s the architecture that, while often historic, doesn’t meet modern workplace codes. And according to one broker, the average age for GSA buildings is about 50 years, whereas its leased space runs about 19 years old.

“The portfolio is huge. And a lot of it — really, a scary lot of it — would rank way lower than what you or I or a typical commercial developer might think of as commercially normal, condition-wise,” said one D.C.-area real estate professional who asked to remain anonymous. “Sometimes it becomes like the FBI headquarters, where, you know, they’ve basically kind of given up.”

Uncle Sam’s biggest fixer-uppers

Three of the 25 buildings named in this year’s General Services Administration congressional justification request are located in D.C. Here’s a closer look at them, and what the GSA says they need.

Lyndon Baines Johnson Federal Building

$4.2 million requested

Home to: Department of Education

Location: 400 Maryland Ave. SW

Size: 640,332 s.f.

Built: 1960

Renovated: 1976

Style: Contemporary/Modernist

What GSA wants: In this case, it’s just a request for design services, and the purpose is to consolidate agency space in the building. The GSA wants to remodel several floors totaling 286,000 square feet. The end goal is to merge the Education operations that are currently occupying separate spaces within that building. It will end up with closer quarters for those workers (167 to 124 usable square feet per person). While they’re at it, GSA wants to upgrade things like the HVAC system, electrical, plumbing and life safety systems as needed, which are apparently not to code yet.

Harry S. Truman Federal Building

$13.2 million requested

Home to: Department of State

Location: 2201 C St. NW

Size: 2.6 million s.f.; 12.2-acre site

Built: 1941

Renovated: 1960, 2015

Style: Stripped Classical/Art Moderne

What GSA wants: A major upgrade to 21 of the building’s elevators, including several freight elevators in the nonmodernized half of the building. According to the request, “The elevators have long since reached the end of their serviceable lives and are in irreparable conditions and must be addressed immediately. The elevators are susceptible to reliability problems and the continued availability of repair parts is uncertain. Major parts have not been manufactured since 1995 and refurbished parts have become increasingly difficult to obtain, and when found they tend to be less reliable.”

Robert F. Kennedy Federal Building

$27.8 million requested

Home to: Department of Justice

Location: 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Size: 1.27 million s.f. inside

Built: 1935

Renovated: 2006

Style: Classical Revival

What GSA wants: This is another elevator upgrade request, but for 36 passenger elevators and four freight elevators inside the Main Justice Building. These elevators haven’t been redone since the 1970s. It’s a historic building with Art Deco-style interiors. From the request, “DOJ has shut down eight elevators to use their parts to keep the others running. Of the remaining active elevators, the finishes, controls and equipment are old, unreliable, historically incorrect, and do not meet current codes.”

What the experts say

The bottom-dwellers: brokers break it down

We reached out to several commercial real estate brokers familiar with federal spaces around the region to find out which buildings they think are in the worst shape. “I think it would be kind of hard to do that,” said one who requested anonymity. “The need is just so profound across the portfolio.” He described a “huge backlog of unfunded repairs and alterations” that likely totals between $4 billion and $5 billion nationally. The feds simply can’t keep pace with it — and may never have all the funding they’d need, he said.

Executive vice president of government solutions, Colliers International

“Two of the worst buildings in the federally owned inventory are, ironically, occupied by GSA,” Stout said, pointing to the GSA’s own headquarters building at 1800 F St. NW, which is “badly in need of major upgrades,” and its regional office building at 301 Seventh St. SW, which he said flat-out needs to be replaced. “The further irony is that neither building meets the requirements of GSA’s leases.” In other words, the agency would find the spaces inadequate to rent out to other agencies.

One of the wings of the GSA headquarters, a historic building, was renovated as part of the federal Stimulus Act. “Yet, today the remainder of that office building remains tired, inefficient and cooled by window unit air conditioners,” Stout said.